The Cardinals acquired cornerback Marcus Cooper, here covering wide receiver Jaron Brown in a 2015 preseason game, in a trade with the Chiefs.
The struggles finding a cornerback across from Patrick Peterson – and more importantly, the struggles of potential cornerbacks in Thursday night's preseason finale – made a move by the Cardinals inevitable.
General Manager Steve Keim didn't wait long after both Brandon Williams and Cariel Brooks had their issues against the Broncos, working a deal Friday with the Kansas City Chiefs to acquire one-time starting cornerback Marcus Cooper.
The Cards sent an conditional seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft to the Chiefs in return.
Cooper, in his fourth season, started six of 16 games as a rookie in 2013 and made three interceptions. He was named the Chiefs' rookie of the year. But in limited action the past two seasons, Cooper had no interceptions and was being tried at safety this offseason.
He enters a mix that includes Williams and veteran Justin Bethel, who did not dress Thursday because of lingering foot pain. The Cardinals had already lost veteran Mike Jenkins, who had been having a decent camp, to a torn ACL.
Brooks looked like he was in a position to claim a cornerback spot, but he did not play well against the Broncos. Brooks missed a tackle to turn a short catch into a 57-yard touchdown, and allowed a second touchdown pass later.
The Cardinals have yet to announce their final cuts – they are not expected until Saturday afternoon – but with the Cooper trade, Brooks will likely be among them.
"I thought Brandon got better, but he's still got problems looking back at the quarterback when he's playing man-to-man," Arians said. "The guys who are going to play next Sunday night (against the Patriots), I have all the confidence in the world in them."
The Cardinals figure to continue to work the phones on potential deals, one of the reasons the team is holding off on announcing the cuts until the deadline.
"There are a lot of things that can happen in the last 24 hours," Arians said.
